I've recently been telephoning hotels in Spain for information and I have noticed that the reception staff, at the end of the conversation, never say "goodbye" they just slam the phone down. This may seem petty to some but to my British ears this non-response to my Adios seems a bit harsh - even rude... is this standard practice in Spanish telephone etiquette? Maybe they just didn't like the sound of my voice!

Yes, it may be a bit petty, if you're calling Hostels instead of Hotels, well, you can't expect total undivided attention to your call... Its not standard, usually there is some kind of goodbye, whether it be ciao, hasta luego or SOMETHING! I don't know why you could be encountering such a problem on what seems to be a regular basis for you. Maybe its an issue with your Spanish? Or are you speaking in English? They may not be familiar with how other people from other countries speak on the phone! I know it was confusing when I was taking french and my professor was telling us the different ways to use Merci and what else had to be added or not to mean different things!
Hasta luego!

Strange.. I usually get "Adios, muchas gracias".

when i call my friends in Spain, they often say "hasta luego" or "bye". But these are people that I know, so it may be a different situation

Interesting! When I called to confirm my reservations, most persons I spoke with said goodbye. The only exception was at the Hotel Los Peregrinos in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, there when I said "Mil gracias por la informacion, adios." (Many thanks for the information, thanks.) The woman said, "Vale" and hung up.

I remember my granny (who was from Vigo, MSRIP) using "vale" and I thought that was like saying "No problem" Am I wrong?

Vale Booklady.

In May when I called my four star hotel in Spain from the United States, they just hung up.......leaving me to say goodbye to a "click".
I also thought it was rude.

I have found that here in Euskadi, a lot of times people will say... Vale, Venga, agur, adios, luego- or ANY combination
Another thing I thought was kind of funny when I first got here how the phone is typically answered...si, digame, dime, RARELY, hola.

I have found that "vale" has MANY different meanings...ok, good, no problem, whatever- it seems to kind of be used as a filler, or transition word.

Another one that really confused me at first..."venga", it isnt always used as a verb.
When I asked my host family, they said it could mean anything... my family will even sometimes use it as a form of "adios".
Kelly

Maybe they are telling you that you ARE the weakest link!. jk
I've never been hung up on w/o hearing some kind of goodbye. Maybe you have one of those new phones that save you money by saving you time? ie. petty little goodbyes. ( you save one second with each phone call! Where can I get a phone like that? Sign me up!)

Take it personal. Since I'm such a nice guy all the time, I've never had the aforementioned "hang up". They probably are incensed that you cannot speak Spanish as they would like or maybe just don't like Brits. Either way, if you were a nicer person, you may get better results.

CaliBasco [Who never offends anyone, just check my ETA posts out!] :p

Thank you all very much for your comments. It does seem that saying Adios on the phone is not obligatory in Spain in the same way as it is in the UK. I reckon its different strokes for different folks! BTW, I have never been treated badly or felt unwelcome in Spain because of my nationality. I find the Spanish people charming and far too well mannered to behave in that way - unlike some users of this forum

Bricamb, rudeness doesn't really translate cross-culturally. I too have made several calls to businesses AND FRIENDS in Madrid while I'm visiting there and from time to time there's no final "Goodbye". You may say, "Okay! I'll talk to you later!" and the next sound you'll hear is CLICK! hehehe.. Don't take it personally. Trust me, in their minds they aren't intending to hang up on your.

I've also noticed that when listening to phone conversations in a room, for example, the talking is rolling along fast and furious and then, often VERY suddenly, someone says "Well, talk to you later" like out of the clear blue sky and BAM! The phone conversation is over and phones are put down. Kind of like at a boxing match at the bell. I sometimes chuckle to myself when I see this. It's like RUN RUN RUN RUN and then (SCREEEEEEECH) STOP!

Oh, and another thing, don't feel disrepected if you're interrupted on the phone or in a normal conversation. This used to drive me nuts but I've gotten used to it. Conversations are usually a little more highly charged to Spaniards, no matter the topic, than to some non-Spaniards. Look, I'm REALLY generalizing here and maybe I'm wrong, maybe I've only seen this by coincidence from my friends in Madrid, but this is what I've noticed.

Saludos, MadridMan